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Martin Ellen Children's Museum
Martin Ellen Children's Museum
Ellen
With
exhibits
such
as
Think
Tank
and
Kidtropolis,
everything
about
the
Childrens
Museum
of
Houston
gears
children
for
learning-
even
the
architecture.
The
building
communicates
to
children
that
it
is
a
place
for
them,
and
to
parents
that
it
is
a
place
for
their
children
to
learn
and
have
fun.
The
Childrens
Museum
of
Houston
was
designed
by
Venturi,
Scott
Brown
and
Associates
and
Jackson
&
Ryan
Architects
and
was
completed
in
1992.
The
buildings
design
pulls
from
Classical
and
Modern
elements
and
twists
them
to
be
playful,
colorful,
and
childlike.
The
buildings
design
principles
help
it
to
function
as
a
permanent
space
for
children
as
well
as
a
framework
for
changeable
exhibit
spaces.
Martin, Ellen
Robert
Venturi
Venturi
graduated
summa
cum
laude
from
Princeton
University
in
1947
and
received
his
master
of
fine
arts
in
1950.
He
later
became
a
Rome
Prize
Fellow
and
went
to
study
architecture
at
the
American
Academy
in
Rome
from
1954-1956.
His
awards
include
the
Pritzker
Prize,
which
he
received
in
1991,
and
in
1992,
he
received
the
Presidential
National
Medal
of
the
Arts.
Complexity
and
Contradiction
in
Architecture
and
Learning
from
Las
Vegas
are
his
two
most
influential
books
and
they
are
still
in
print.
Venturi
also
coined
the
term,
less
is
a
bore,
as
a
rebuke
to
Mies
van
der
Rohes
minimalist
ideal
that,
less
is
more.
His
most
famous
buildings
feature
exaggerated
facades
and
architectural
ornament,
as
well
as
a
postmodern
fusion
of
modern
and
classical
architecture.
His
major
works
include
the
Provincial
Capitol
Building
in
Toulouse,
France;
the
Mielparque
Nikko
Kirifuri
resort
hotel
in
Nikko,
Japan;
and
the
Seattle
Art
Museum
in
Washington.
Venturis
architectural
thought
causes
these
buildings
and
the
Childrens
Museum
to
share
a
design
element.
They
each
have
a
grand
hall,
street
or
in
the
Childrens
Museums
case
a
kids
hall
in
their
design.
Design
Principles
The
Childrens
Museum
features
a
decorated
shed
design
with
a
sign
composed
of
a
temple
front,
Greek
columns,
and
caryatids.
The
building
in
linearly
organized
and
uses
a
grand
hall
as
its
primary
axis.
Martin,
Ellen
The
Childrens
Museum
is
a
perfect
example
of
Venturis
decorated
shed
theory.
Robert
Venturi,
Denise
Scott
Brown,
and
Steven
Izenour
wrote
their
theory,
The
Duck
and
the
Decorated
Shed
in
their
book,
Learning
from
Las
Vegas:
The
Forgotten
Symbolism
of
Architectural
Form.
The
authors
proposed
that
there
are
two
distinctly
different
types
of
buildings-
ducks
and
decorated
sheds-
and
that
all
buildings
can
be
classified
as
one
or
the
other.
The
term
duck
refers
to
the
big
duck,
built
by
Martin
Maurer
for
the
purpose
of
selling
ducks
and
duck
eggs.
A
duck
describes
any
and
all
buildings
that
are
entirely
symbols.
Their
form
and
shape
communicate
their
purpose
and
they
are
often
more
sculptural
than
architectural.
A
decorated
shed,
however,
has
a
simple,
generic
structure
and
is
only
identifiable
by
its
signage.
Unlike
ducks,
decorated
sheds
are
not
inherent
symbols;
they
require
applied
symbols,
or
signs.
A
decorated
shed
has
explicit
ornamentation
that
distracts
the
viewer
from
the
buildings
underlying
structure.
The
Childrens
Museum
is
itself
a
decorated
shed.
In
order
for
exhibits
to
be
dismantled,
rearranged
and
redesigned,
a
large
exhibition
space
is
all
that
is
required
for
the
interior
space.
The
exterior
however,
must
attract
viewers
with
a
sign.
The
Childrens
Museum
features
a
sign
composed
of
a
temple
front,
Greek
columns,
and
caryatids.
Temple
Front
A
cartoon
Greek
portico
that
reads
Museum
is
the
first
thing
visitors
notice
when
they
come
to
the
building.
With
large
columns
and
bright
colors,
this
adolescent
twist
on
classical
architecture
is
a
sign
as
well
as
a
crucial
element
of
the
building.
Paul
Goldberger
writes
for
The
New
York
Times
that
the
museums
entrance,
stands
slightly
in
front
of
the
structure,
a
Martin,
Ellen
cartoon
version
of
the
Brandenburg
Gate,
which
functions
as
a
sign
as
much
as
an
element
of
the
building.
The
Childrens
Museums
front
excels
in
announcing
the
entrance
of
the
museum.
Robert
Venturi
over-scaled,
detached,
curved,
and
corner-positioned
the
front
to
contribute
to
the
grandeur
of
the
museum.
Greek
Columns
To
the
left
of
the
temple
front,
is
the
buildings
most
formal
faade.
Childrens
is
spelled
out
over
huge,
yellow
columns.
Columns
are
traditionally
given
to
buildings
of
importance
such
as
libraries
and
museums;
in
this
instance
they
are
used
to
allude
to
a
historical
theme
in
a
context
that
children
will
understand.
Venturi
uses
child-like
columns
to
candidly
indicate
the
buildings
importance
as
a
museum-
even
if
it
is
one
for
children.
The
small
scale
of
the
decorative
detail
complements
the
big
scale
of
the
columns;
although
the
columns
are
monumental,
the
detail
is
friendly
and
playful.
Caryatids
Along
the
other
side
of
the
building
are
the
Caryakids,
several
fiberglass
cutout
children
that
hold
up
the
awning
and
are
modeled
after
classical
Greek
caryatids.
A
caryatid
is
a
sculpted
female
figure
serving
as
an
architectural
support.
The
best-
known
and
most
copied
examples
are
the
six
figures
of
the
Caryatid
Porch
of
the
Erechtheion
on
the
Acropolis
at
Athens.
Although
the
origins
of
the
term
caryatid
are
unclear,
the
Roman
architect
Vitruvius
writes
in
his
work
De
Architectura,
that
the
caryatids
of
the
Erechtheion
represent
the
punishment
of
the
women
of
Karyae,
who
were
condemned
to
slavery
after
betraying
Athens
by
siding
with
Persia
in
the
Greco-Persian
Wars.
Martin, Ellen
Caryakids
Venturi's
play
on
the
classical
caryatid
is
cleverly
called
a
caryakid.
Along
La
Branch
Street,
13
caryakids
create
a
covered
walkway
by
supporting
a
low
wing
of
prefabricated,
green
corrugated
metal.
The
caryakids
function
as
an
architectural
element
and
as
another
sign,
flashing
the
museums
identity
to
the
street.
Organization
Martin,
Ellen
The
building
is
linearly
organized
along
the
Kids
Hall
and
the
site.
The
permanent
spaces
are
closest
to
Binz
Street,
while
the
shed
exhibition
area
is
pushed
into
the
interior
of
the
site.
Because
of
the
dust
and
noise
it
produces,
the
workshop
for
making
new
exhibitions
is
separated
from
the
rest
of
the
museum
and
located
at
the
rear
of
the
site.
Kids
Hall
Martin,
Ellen
References
Architecture
in
the
District.
Articles.
Houston
Museum
District.
Houston
Museums,
2013.
Web.
16
Feb
2015.
<http://houstonmuseumdistrict.org/articles/architecture-in-the-
district/>.
Childrens
Museum
of
Houston.
Web.
15
Feb
2015.
<http://www.cmhouston.org>.
Goldberger,
Paul.
Architecture
View;
For
Children,
Pop
Goes
the
Museum.
Arts.
The
New
York
Times.
The
New
York
Times
Company,
1993.
Web.
17
Feb
2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/22/arts/architecture-view-for-children-pop-goes-
the-museum.html>.
Hersey,
George
L.
The
Lost
Meaning
of
Classical
Architecture.
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology,
1988.
Print.
Larson,
Magali
Sarfatti.
Behind
the
Postmodern
Faade:
Architectural
Change
in
Late
Twentieth-
Century
America.
Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1995.
Web.
19
Feb
2015.
Turner,
Drexel.
Little
Caesars
Palace
The
Childrens
Museum
of
Houston.
Cite
Survey
1993:
29-37.
Print.
Sloyer,
Michael.
Ducks
and
Sheds.
The
Architectural
Mirror.
Blogspot,
2009.
24
Mar,
2015.
<http://thearchitecturalmirror.blogspot.com/2009/03/ducks-and-sheds.html>.
VSBA.
Childrens
Museum
of
Houston.
A-Z
Project
List.
Venturiscottbrown.org.
Web.
17
Feb
2015.
<http://venturiscottbrown.org/projects/>.
Von
Moos,
Stanislaus.
Venturi,
Scott
Brown
and
Associates:
Building
and
Projects,
1986-1998.
New
York:
The
Monacelli
Press,
1999.
Print.